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Logistics, motorbikes, American football - the most dangerous lifestyles

Motorcyclists who play American football lead the most dangerous lifestyle, particularly if they work in transportation and storage, with a 22% chance of being killed or seriously injured in the next year.

A new tool calculates risk based on official data from the Office for National Statistics, Department for Transport, Health and Safety Executive and the CIA.

How Dangerous is Your Life? allows people to find out how high their risk of injury or death over the next 12 months is, according to different factors such as their job, commute, sports and hobbies, favourite holiday destination and even their pet.

The most dangerous occupation is logistics, carrying an annual 0.63% chance of death or injury. This is closely followed by mining, quarrying, energy and water supply, with a 0.49% chance.

How people travel to and from work, is more significant, however. Whereas car drivers can relax with only a 0.15% chance of being killed or seriously injured in the next year, motorcyclists run almost 20 times the risk at 2.91%.

Nothing, however, has as big an impact as sports and hobbies. It’s the brutal sport of American football that adds an extra 18.8% chance of injury. Sitting just behind, with a risk of 15.9%, is the famous bone breaker that is ice hockey.

Other factors include the country last visited on holiday. Despite including the option of every country in the world, it’s the enclaved Kingdom of Lesotho in South Africa that is the most dicey. Its death rate of 15 per 1,000 every year puts it at the top of the CIA’s list of most dangerous countries.

Perhaps surprisingly, it is followed by the Baltic country of Lithuania, with its 2017 death rate of 14.6 per 1,000.

For people looking for a more stress-free commute, many will be reassured to find out that travelling by plane or train are the safest options, with almost no risk at all.

Meanwhile, an office-based job carries just a 0.12% of death or injury, whilst bowling and water-based activities swimming and canoeing are the safest sports with a 0.1% risk each. Qatar is also the best destination for a worry-free holiday, with a 2017 death rate of just 1.7 people per 1,000.